Knighttime Stars And Secrets
by Catarinamer
Summary: "Our life is made by the death of others." The dawn of one story follows on the eve of another's: an account of Meta Knight's beginnings to Galacta Knight's abrupt and incomplete end. Anime-verse, gijinka.
1. Prologue

He did not have a natural birth.

The little creature was so small and sickly, not even able to squall properly. Behind his ever-present grin, Nightmare felt consumed by irritation and confusion. The situation made no sense: Nightmare had put so much effort and creativity and time into this Demon Beast, why was it so weak?

The infant was red-faced with exhaustion and could only let out the smallest of mewls. It felt hot to the touch and squirmed in constant pain. Nightmare growled in disappointment, utterly void of pity. He'd made mistakes before, had failed before, but never like this. It would be best to kill the infant and try again.

But as the dark deity prepared to snuff out the new life, he felt an odd, warm _pulsing_. And he had to recollect himself from the shock, had to muster up some reason again. Because, for a moment, it was almost as if he'd sensed a _Star Warrior_ —

Despite all logic, a second inquiry resulted in the same answer: Nightmare, the ultimate enemy and antithesis of the Star Warriors, had somehow created one.

The infant's attempts at wailing petered off into pathetic sniffles, and it dawned on Nightmare why the thing was so sick; of course, a creature with two halves at complete odds with each other would be in pain. Its body was at war with itself.

Nightmare considered for a moment letting the thing die on its own. But a golden opportunity had presented itself and he knew he'd be a fool to ignore it. Star Warriors could sense each others' presence, so beforehand it had been impossible to send a mole into the GSA's most elite ranks. But now…

Nightmare's grin became sincere, albeit in a cruel and terrifying way. He cradled his newest creation and spoke to it.

_**You will be my best Demon Beast.**_

The infant blinked open his eyes and finally found enough breath to cry.


	2. Chapter 1

He was only a child.

When the cacophony of war - the screams of the mortal soldiers, roars of the Demon Beasts, clashing of metal on metal, eruptions of fireballs and explosions - began to pound against his ears, he hid. He pulled up the floorboards and crawled under them.

The child Demon Beast was being held in what was one of the most heavily fortified rooms in the entire fortress. He was one of a kind, a Star Warrior and a Demon Beast, and it was natural for Nightmare to want to keep his valuables safe. But the child was oblivious to all of this; he only knew that the noises were unnerving, and he hid from them.

His hiding place was dark, and the child took comfort from that - Demon Beasts did not fear the dark. It also muffled the noises somewhat, and the child found himself being lulled to sleep, partly from the more comforting atmosphere and partly from sheer boredom. He was too naive to completely understand the situation to be afraid.

He woke when the door to his room was slammed open.

Instinctively, he remained silent. Past the sound of heavy footsteps, he could hear alarms blaring. He'd never heard alarms before, and it left him rather frightened.

But then he heard _voices_, and his fear multiplied tenfold.

"…Why is Nightmare's _secret weapon_ in a bedroom?"

"Because his '_secret weapon'_ is a Demon Beast, a creature that usually likes to have a bed, dumbass."

The first voice became a little softer, maybe humbled or embarrassed. "…It's just not like Nightmare to have something so quaint looking."

A third, deeper voice cut in. It sounded authoritative. "No one's here. Likely it's already escaped."

The second, arrogant voice returned. "It looks like a child's room. All the toys about."

The child frowned. He'd spent a long time making those toys for himself and didn't want anyone touching them.

"I didn't think Demon Beasts had natural life cycles," the first of them commented. "Thought Nightmare just made adults."

Someone scoffed but no one bothered to answer. Maybe if the child's instincts weren't screaming at him to _stay hidden_, he'd have informed them that when Nightmare did create children, it was so they could grow up to be exceptionally strong. But he didn't reveal himself, only listened. There was more shuffling in the room, probably them going through his things.

That deep voice spoke again, mumbling more to himself than his comrades. "The guards wouldn't have been standing outside if the thing had already escaped; there'd be no point to it. Unless…"

"Unless we've walked into a trap." First voice again. It was noticeably higher than the other two, as if it were younger.

"Hard to be trapped when you've killed all your hunters," the snarky one noted. The child went completely still, taking alarm at the word _killed_.

There was a brief pause.

"Set the room on fire," someone - that arrogant person? - suggested. "If the monster is hiding in here, it'll die. If it's gone, then who cares about the room?"

Another silence. The child was having trouble controlling his breathing.

The youngest voice again. "Are we really going to kill a child?"

"A Demon Beast," the arrogant one corrected. The deep voice had been silent for some time.

Suddenly the floorboards above him sagged under someone's heavy weight. There was a brief pause, then a sharp kick snapped a floorboard in two. Half of it hit the child as it fell.

He gasped and held his scraped arm. When he glanced up, two bright red eyes peered at him from beyond an odd mask.

The child stared up at them, unmasked terror on his features. The owner of the eyes kicked at another floorboard with enough force to snap it as well. The child tried to not think about what would happen if that kick were applied to his ribs.

Gloved hands plucked him from his hiding space, though the child kicked and clawed and fought hard to escape. But the hands, which gripped him under the arms, held him out at a distance so he couldn't cause much damage.

Of the three intruders present, the arrogant one was the first to speak. The owner of the voice was dressed in all black, with a cloth cowl and odd metal star over his forehead. A messy top knot sat on his head. Had the child had ever seen anything other than the contents of his room, he may have been able to identify the man as a ninja. "I've seen rookies hide better than that. This is a Demon Beast?"

"He's so little," the first voice spoke. Its owner was young compared to the other two and dressed in greens and yellows, though he was boring enough that the child didn't feel very compelled to look at him.

The owner of the deep voice held him. He was huge, and the child knew that he was powerless in this man's grasp. The man was fully clad in white armor and pink robes, even his face covered by a mask with a cross-shaped slit. His hair was a brazen pink, and the child noted two yellow horns that curled out from the top of the forehead. Finally - and, for some reason, this frightened the child the most - the man had two huge, feathered wings. The child's own small leather wings curled against his back and felt quite inferior.

The ninja grew impatient in the silence. "Are you going to kill it, Sir Galacta Knight?"

The child shook. Why did they want to kill him? What had he ever done to them? The Sir Galacta Knight man offered no explanations, only continued staring at the boy.

"We can't kill him," Galacta Knight finally declared. His tone was flat, as if he were disappointed. The Demon Beast-child was opposite in his reaction and sighed in obvious relief.

The ninja was floored. After a stunned moment, he asked with slow, measured words, "…And why not? Did we really come all this way just to —"

Sir Galacta Knight turned his head and his eyes flashed a brilliant red; the ninja bit his tongue. The child squirmed and kicked in the Knight's grasp, rightly terrified of the man holding him. This drew Galacta Knight's attention turned back him again, though his stare now had a certain curiosity to it.

"So you're a Star Warrior," the masked Knight mumbled. "_And_ a Demon Beast. …What are we to do with you?"

The ninja came round to get a closer look, though the child began to fight harder to escape, naturally wanting to be as far away as possible from the one person actively advocating to kill him. In response, Galacta Knight shifted him in his grasp, pulling him against his chest armor and kind of cradling him with one arm. The Knight's other hand held the child still.

"We can't possibly _recruit_ that thing," the ninja answered distastefully. "Nightmare likely made it as a spy."

Galacta Knight nodded. "Yes, I'd already thought of that." He stared at the little Demon Beast for a moment, clearly thinking of a solution. He seemed to make his decision a few moments later when he snatched a blanket from the bed and wrapped the child up, blinding and restricting him. The child felt himself being passed into someone else's arms and dearly hoped that it wasn't the ninja. But judging from the gentle hold, it was likely that younger person. The man holding him began to walk, and the child clawed at the fabric in a desperate attempt to tear a hole and escape. Eventually, the man grew tired of his clawing and held him tightly enough to stop his moving.

"Sir Galacta Knight? …We're in Nightmare's fortress, so — where's Nightmare?" The person holding him was speaking, and the child stilled.

Galacta Knight ignored the question. "Arthur, when we reach camp, give the kid to Popopo before you do anything else."

The man holding him responded with an obedient, "Yes, sir," and spoke no more. In fact, after that short exchange nothing else was said at all as they walked — though after a time, other noises began. The familiar sound of angry Demon Beasts reached the child's ears and he attempted to cry out for help, but an exasperated sigh on Galacta Knight's part and the _squiwck_ sound of a blade in flesh told the child that he'd be getting no assistance from his brethren. Not when being taken by these people.

After that, the only sounds for a long time were footsteps.

And after _that_, the full symphony of life - and death - assaulted him as his captors stepped outside of the fortress and onto a dying battlefield.

* * *

A/N: In this chapter Meta Knight is around, what, physically five years old? Also as a warning, I seem to have a horrible track record with completing multichapter stories. So if this story doesn't end up being very popular, I'll probably let it die on its own unless someone asks me not to.


	3. Chapter 2

He knew that there were too many decisions to make.

As they left the fortress behind, Galacta Knight cut through any Demon Beasts stupid enough to get within range of his lance. There weren't many now as the battlefield emptied; the few monsters that the trio encountered were dealt with easily enough, as those remaining were already too weak to put up much of a challenge. Considering the fact that the trio was coming from _behind enemy lines_, the fact that there was no one really there to stop them carried quite a bit of weight. Galacta Knight allowed himself a smirk; _finally_, one battle had gone right.

Once across the emptying field, he led the group to a smaller starship among the massive fleet the GSA had assembled for the invasion. This ship was new and sleek, if a bit beat up from the recent battle. Her intended cargo of soldiers consisted of veteran Star Warriors - an elite ship for her elite passengers. The moment the trio climbed up the landing, Sir Arthur bowed to his superiors and hurried off to deposit the Demon Beast as Galacta Knight had instructed.

Once the squire was out of earshot, Yamikage turned to the Knight. The latter, however, waved off the question before it was asked. "For the time being, don't speak to anyone of what we found; the Demon Beast, the documents, the - well, you know. Go on and check on those under your command, we'll speak at length later."

The ninja was silent for a moment, almost in defiance - it was clear he wanted to ask a question or protest - but eventually bowed. "Yes, sir." Without another word, he turned and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Galacta Knight hovered back outside. The fortress was grounded on a small, barren planet - in fact, the fortress itself was half as big as the land it occupied. What little land there was between the GSA's starships and Nightmare's base was littered with corpses, and medics dug through piles of bodies to find any hint of the living. The battle had been a much needed victory, though Galacta Knight wondered if they would have enough soldiers for the next. Of course, the same could be said for Nightmare though his misfortune was compounded by the fact that it had been a _crushing_ defeat. And now, even one of his most valuable Demon Beasts was gone.

The Star Warrior-Demon Beast...

Galacta Knight contemplated the options as he pulled together the soldiers able to join him for another sweep of the fortress. There were no records of such a creature existing before; this blue-haired child seemed to be the very first. That was the one available fact. The _implications_ of this fact were many and complicated; how had Nightmare created such a thing, how powerful was it, were there more, was it mindless or capable of choice, and had Nightmare actually allowed it to be taken so as to become a mole in the GSA's highest ranks? There were even more questions, but Galacta Knight considered those the more important.

As for the last question, the Knight decided to treat the situation as if it were so. After all, what other purpose would such a Demon Beast have? Of course it was a spy. But... the GSA couldn't kill the thing. After all, it could be used to their advantage, and it was very likely quite powerful. The creature was a valuable asset for either side, and now it was left to decide for which one.

That creature was the top priority, but it wasn't the only thing worthy of note in Nightmare's base. Yamikage had found a small, heart-shape glass-like shard among the vaults of the fortress. And, though Galacta Knight couldn't quite explain why, the Knight had felt intensely drawn to it and had tucked it into a pouch on a whim. Nightmare couldn't have possibly made it - for one thing, it didn't have Nightmare's emblem on it, and the semi-deity put the damn marker on everything he created - as the shard radiated a feeling of _compassion_. The Knight had felt compelled to act kinder since he'd picked it up; otherwise, he might have followed Yamikage's suggestion to kill the little creature. He couldn't think of a reason that Nightmare would have to create such an object; surely Nightmare didn't even know the what compassion was.

Galacta Knight sighed and tucked the heart shard back into his pocket. It would need to be taken to another General before proceeding any farther with it. However, he could think of some solutions for how to handle the child in the meantime.

* * *

It wasn't until the early morning that Galacta Knight finished his immediate duties and was finally able to return to the _Starship Aurora_ and his personal cabin. He entered clumsily, allowed his armor to litter the floor, and curled into a nest of pillows to fall into a dreamless sleep.

The Knight woke hours later when a little hand tugged on his horn. He tried to ignore it, but when the tugging persisted, Galacta Knight finally deigned to slide one scarlet eye open.

The lighting in the room indicated the afternoon. He saw that his armor was strewed across the floor where he'd left it that morning; he'd need to wash it and either put it on himself or a mannequin. The only change in the room was a that small child, barely past the toddling stage, shyly perched on the edge of the bed. The boy brushed blue fringe from his face and revealed curious, pale yellow eyes.

Galacta Knight stared in dumb bewilderment before remembering the child as the GSA's prize from the raid the night before. Huh... the child looked somehow different in the light, a little more...human?

He pulled himself up into a sitting position and met the child's eyes; the boy stared back for a moment, but then lowered his gaze. Finally, the Knight spoke, "What are you doing in here?" His voice was oddly raspy.

The child, meanwhile, didn't seem to have a voice at all. He just furrowed his eyebrows in what was maybe slight worry or confusion, but managed to smile a bit. Galacta Knight wondered if he was capable of speaking.

When a voice answered, it wasn't the child's. A cautious "Hey, kiddo, are you in here- " sounded as Sir Arthur peeped through the door. His eyes widened when he saw that Galacta Knight was already awake. The younger squire smiled timidly and tried a greeting. "Ah, good afternoon, sir. I trust you slept well?"

The Knight didn't answer but instead watched as the child let himself slide off the edge of the bed and pattered over to the young soldier. The boy raised his arms, obviously wanting to be held; Arthur obliged and scooped the child up. Galacta Knight raised an eyebrow. It'd been only a few hours since they found the creature; how had gotten Arthur attached so quickly?

Arthur may have blushed at the look. "Ah, sorry for disturbing you, sir... I'll take him elsewhere..."

"How long have you been letting that kid run around?" Galacta Knight kept his voice flat but was distinctively annoyed at the other Star Warrior's carelessness. Although, in Arthur's defense, Galacta Knight had only ordered Yamikage to secrecy; he'd just expected that Arthur, as lower in rank, wouldn't involve himself any further unless ordered to. Now, however, this seemed not to be the case. "We don't exactly have clearance to let him do _anything_, much less explore. Understand?"

Arthur nodded and replied with a solemn, "Yes, sir."

Galacta Knight sighed. Stars, he was tired. "I told you to take him to Popopo. Why isn't he with her?"

Arthur chewed the inside of his mouth; Galacta Knight could see it from here and decided that the younger man needed a mask if he couldn't hide his expressions himself. "I did, sir... She took care of him last night, and she's busy now, so I'm taking care of him."

The Knight finally climbed out of his warm bed and began picking his armor off the floor. He noticed the child studying him intently, but ignored it. Arthur continued to stand at the door, silently awaiting either orders or a dismissal.

"Where is Popopo now?" Galacta Knight abruptly asked.

Arthur blinked in confusion for a moment before responding. "At the infirmary, sir." Seeing his superior's expression, he quickly added, "She isn't hurt; I think she's checking supplies or helping the wounded."

Galacta Knight nodded absently as he slipped his armor and mask back on. "Right. Well, I need you to stay in here with that child while I go talk to her. Make sure he doesn't wander off this time."

Arthur nodded somewhat sulkily. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Galacta Knight caught Popopo as she was making her way back to her room.

"Good afternoon," she chirped, blue-grey eyes shining. "Did you just wake up?"

The Knight nodded groggily. "Popopo, did Arthur bring that child to you?"

Popopo raised an eyebrow, but her answer was no less cheerful than before. "Yup. He's such a cutie! Where did he come from, though? And what did you want me to do with him - just care for him?"

The Knight waved his hand in a 'follow me' gesture, not wanting to speak about it where they could be overheard. He wasn't sure if the secrecy was strictly necessary, but it couldn't hurt. Popopo's room was closer, so they stopped in there. Galacta Knight absentmindedly preened his feathers with his fingers as he began to speak. "We found that child last night in one of Nightmare's vaults. It's a Demon Beast, but also a Star Warrior. I'm guessing that Nightmare created it to infiltrate us, but I didn't kill it because I thought there was a chance we could persuade it to turn to our side."

Popopo was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her tone was somewhat irritated. "Well, you might want to start your persuasion by calling the child a 'he,' not an 'it.'" She sighed in response to her companion's bewildered reaction. "If you keep treating people like objects, they won't be very keen to help you."

He eyed her critically and barely kept himself from arrogantly declaring that he didn't need help. That's why he was speaking to her in the first place, wasn't it?

"We'll never be sure of his actual allegiance; he could tear us apart from the inside... We can't really trust anything from Nightmare." She sounded somewhat sad as she said this, though Galacta Knight had no idea why.

The Knight shuffled his wings. "I thought of that. Is there any way he could be...purified? Perhaps at..."

Popopo caught on. "The Fountain of Dreams? The holy water kills Demon Beasts, though - part Star Warrior or not, it still might kill him."

Galacta Knight shrugged. "If we go through with it and it works, then we've gained another Star Warrior, which will by very convenient, as our numbers have been dwindling as it is. If it doesn't work and he dies, well, that's an advantage we never expected to have anyway."

The girl seemed shocked. "You'd just... let a child die?"

"Well, yes." Rather blunt, but what answer did she want? ...Hadn't Arthur said something along those lines earlier? Galacta Knight made a mental note that people put more value on children, though he wasn't sure why, and that he might pretend to do the same.

Popopo didn't seem to notice his confusion. She stared at him with open disapproval, perhaps the only person who could look at Galacta Knight so disrespectfully and not get struck down for it. But when her disapproval stirred no real reaction in the Knight, she sighed yet again and dropped the matter for a more important one. "Well, I guess we'll have to take him to the Fountain, then."

Galacta Knight nodded. "Excellent. I'll go speak with the General and get permission. Arthur has the boy in my room, would you mind keeping them out of sight?"

Popopo smiled. She always looked adorable when that smile was sincere, and the Knight felt himself smiling back. "Of course. You can always count on me."

* * *

AN: Build up, exposition chapter. Next will have a little more storyline in it. Thank you for waiting~


End file.
